4/26/2016

I can't tell you the number of times, twice in the last week alone, where people have come up to me asking why we don't see The Avengers and the X-Men in the same movie. Or sometimes I hear people talking as if all of Marvel's various characters are part of the same cinematic universe when they obviously aren't. It's interesting in a way that comic book fans have received what they always wanted, their favorite heroes in awesome big screen movies, and yet there remains this one thing they still don't have because multiple studios won't allow it. And that frustration is heard a little bit in Deadpool's Simon Kinberg and Tim Miller in a conversation with CBR.

The duo were asked about the likelihood of a Deadpool/Spider-Man crossover, especially in light of Sony's deal with Marvel. Basically, don't get your hopes up, True Believers...

Kinberg: "We would love it. I mean, Tim and I talked about it quite a bit. We grew up on comics that did it all the time, quite freely. Not just within the Marvel Universe, but outside the Marvel Universe. So it'd be rad to see it. Those decisions are made by people at a much higher part of the food chain than Tim and I -- we just go execute it."

Miller: "I honestly can say, as an adult who works in this industry, you certainly can see all the reasons why it doesn't happen. The corporate inertia, just the lawyering of that deal alone is so daunting that I don't think anybody would seriously consider it.But as a fan, you just want to go, "Fuck man! Why can't I see that?" Because that's what I got in comic books. What's more, they had DC/Marvel crossover events that were just stupendous. On a creative level, you just want to say that comic books is just a huge world. I read Marvel, and I read DC, and I read Image, and I read small independent publishers. I've got a "Goon" comic book from Dark Horse. I love all of that stuff. To me, it's all one big world."

Well, I would disagree with those Marvel/DC crossovers being "stupendous". Maybe in hindsight, but certainly not when they were actually happening. Anyway, Spider-Man and Deadpool have a unique connection in the Marvel Universe. They were designed to be flipsides of the same coin, with Deadpool's humor taking a more twisted bent. They can crack wise with the best Marvel has to offer, and when they get together the results are usually pretty hilarious. Imagine those two trading barbs on the big screen! It would be incredible, unfortunately it's probably not going to happen.

However, Spider-Man gets in plenty of quips in Captain America: Civil War, and you can see him in action in the latest TV spot where he does battle with the Winter Soldier. Maybe it's me, but in all of the footage we've seen it's Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) who has looked totally dominant. Are they possibly setting him up to take on an even greater, more patriotic role? I'm supposed to interview the Russo Brothers next week, so maybe that will be a good question to ask?